THE KAISER'S FRIENDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 256, 26 October 1907, Page 4

THE KAISER'S FRIENDS.

The sensation of the year on the Continent has.undoubtedly been the crusade carried on-by Herr Harden with such remarkable success against the little knot of counsellors and favourites who have so long held the-ear of the Kaiser. The charges of immorality specifically Preferred against seTOral members of this coterie are of course interesting to the student of modern social ethics. But their chief importance consists in the effect they have had in opening the Kaiser's eyes to the true character of the men to whom he has-given his confidence and entrusted the care of Ids royal dignity. Prince Buelow not long since went to a great deal of trouble to assure the Reichstag that there was.no ground for the current rumour of a cabal of secret advisers by whom the policy of the Empire-was directed. But it is not likely that ■ 4die Chancellor's smooth words deceived anybody. For years past it.has been notorious that Prince Philip Eulenburg exercised almost overwhelming influence over the Kaiser. A brilliant courtier and a, clever and resourceful diplomatist, the Prince had. studied his master carefully, and had even gone the length of working on the love of mysticism, we might almost say, the superstition, which is one striking feature in the Kaiser's complex character. Even in a country where "high treason" is so comprehensive a term, public opinion on such subjects cannot easily be suppressed; and the ascendancy of Eulenburg and his associates has long been regarded by thoughtful observers-as a permanent menace to the Empire's safety arid welfare. When charges of immorality were nfcst rumoured against this little clique of courtiers, their . enemies gladly hailed their opportunity. Herr Harden pressed the charges with vigour in the public- Press, and the Crown Prince boldly accepting a duty which everyone else feared to x'ndertake, told his father the truth about his favourites. Eulenburg and several of his friends were driven from Court with every sign of ignominy; and the libel action which is now agitating Berlin is only the backwash of the tide of public indignation which has cleared the Kaiser's Court of the baneful influences which have so long infected the public life and policy of Germany. The man by whom this remarkable result has been achieved deserves more than casual notice. Maximilian Harden is one of the very few publicists in ;Germany who can truly claim to be an Independent. He is , a thinker and politician of the Bismarckian school, and was one of the few distinguished men who clung to the old chancellor afterhis exile from the Court and the capital- Honest and fearless, Herr Harden las never hesitated to criticise the Kaiser's diplomacy in the most trenchant fashion, and he has suffered many months' imprisonment at various times for his temerity in attacking the royal policy, or contrasting its failures with the triumphs of his unforgotten hero, BismaTck. 'i.'he complaint that Harden has always made against the Kaiser is not that his aggressive ambition is mistaken in its purpose, but that he is reckless and shortsighted in his methods. The foreign policy of Germany is still nominally Bismarck's, but the skill and experience of the old Chancellor are lacking now at the hehn of State; —this is the line of attack that Harden and his few supporters have taken. That even under so autocratic a Government one man has been able to produce so profound an effect upon public opinion, is a striking tribute to Herr Hardens ability and courage. Last year he published in his paper, "Die Zukunft," a vigorous article bearing the suggestive title "Mystification," which pressed home the charges against the Kaiser's statecraft in unmistakable language; and the "mystical" element in the indictment pointed clearly to Eulenburg with his retinue of spiritualists and charlatans. It is more than likely that the knowledge of the impression produced on public sentiment by Hardens attacks prepared the Kaiser for what speedily folj lowed. When Prince Frederick Henry of Brunswick had been publicly insulted and degraded by the Kaiser and Eulenburg had' been driven from the Court, public opinion in Germany at last began to realise that Harden was on the winning side, and he is now sure of the support of all decent-minded people in his contest with the' survivors of the Court cabal. And now that the maleficent influence of this unprincipled and degenerate clique has been broken down, we may fairly assume that the Kaiser's public policy will assume a more healthy and rational character, abroad as well as at home.